Château de Parenchère

History

Château de Parenchère lies to the south of the town of St.Foy-la-Grande on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux appelation. The estate and its beautiful château date from the early 17th century, but the modern renaissance of the property began in 1958 when it was bought by Raphael Gazaniol, father of the current owner and producer Jean Gazaniol.

Jean Gazaniol

Inspired by the challenge of making Château de Parenchère a great Bordeaux wine, a wine to compete with the most celebrated wines of the region despite its modest Bordeaux Supérieur Rouge appelation, Raphael Gazaniol acquired 422 acres of land around the original domaine. He then created the vineyard in production today, consisting of 153 acres of vines, all planted with red grape varieties.

Raphael's hard work, and that of his son Jean has paid off. Today Parenchère sells all its annual production of around 400,000 bottles to a loyal and growing band of customers ,both in France and overseas, who appreciate the amazing value that Château de Parenchère's wines represent, Grands Vins for a petit price.

Viticulture and Winemaking

Château de Parenchère makes the most of its natural advantages. These begin with the right soil. The property is planted on chalky clay which is very deep and not very fertile, characteristics which contribute to naturally low yields in the vines, and body , strength and ageing potential in the wine. Additionally the vineyards are on a long rolling south facing slope, which gives a perfect exposition,bathing the vines in sunlight from dawn 'til dusk. This helps explain why even in difficult years Parenchère is able to harvest ripe grapes and make good wines.

Blessed with the right soil and exposition, the Gazaniols have over the years arrived at the optimum combination of grape varieties for the site. Today the vineyards consist of 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec. The majority of the vineyard was planted between 1958 and 1962, and though some continuous replanting is essential for the upkeep of the vineyard, there are some plots of vines which date back before the arrival of Raphael and Jean, vines of 50 years old or more.

Thus the Château has vines with an average age of 25 years, the perfect balance of quality and volume. Only grapes from vines of ten years and older go into Château de Parenchère, the rest are sold locally under different names.

When the grapes are perfectly ripe they are hand picked and brought to the cellar for further sorting to eliminate any imperfect fruit. Then having been gently crushed and completely de-stemmed they undergo a fairly long, temperature controlled fermentation, before going into a combination of new, one and two year old oak barriques. At this stage, all of the 21 main lots into which the vineyard is divided are kept separate, producing 21 different cuvées. After a year or perhaps a little more in barrel, all these separate cuvées are tasted, judged and then blended to make the unique cuvée which carries the name of Château de Parenchère. Anything less than perfect and that cuvée is rejected from the final blend.

In recent years, and only when the vintage is of sufficient quality to justify it, Jean Gazaniol has bottled around 500 cases of a Merlot dominated blend named Cuvée Raphael in honour of his late father.

The wines of Parenchère begin to show well from around three years old, but their quality, particularly their balance combined with richness of fruit is really only revealed after 6 to 8 years, and in great years they are capable of ageing well for at least 10 to 15 years.

Critics throughout Europe and North America have heaped praise on these wines , which now regularly attract prices higher than their peers among the petits châteaux of Bordeaux and yet still offer superb value for money. Perhaps one quote from the hundreds obtained in the last decade best sums up why:

" A remarkable Bordeaux Supérior , rich in substance, full bodied, with a complex bouquet dominated by very ripe fruit. A well-made wine which would make some growers on the plain of St-Emilion turn green with envy."

The Guide to Wines - Patrick Dussert- Gerber, 1990.

Wines

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